ACTcichlidlover Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Hi all,As the topic title states, I recently acquired a 4x2x2.5 second hand tank that was used to keep marine fish. Tank was shut down on the day I bought it and still has algae and salt residue all through it. Also have 2 canister filters with filter material that needs to be cleaned.As I have never cleaned an old marine tank I just wanted some advice on how to do this. Is it as simple as cleaning all the algae and salt residue or do you recommend I go further with other types of cleaning?In addition, is it worth keeping the current filter material or just biting the bullet and purchasing some new material. (Note that the tank has not run for over a week so all good bacteria etc will have died).The tanks will be stocked with Tanganyikan fish that I currently have in my standard 4ft tank. ie Julies, Bricardii, tetracanthus and a couple of tropheus and a few other single species. Ideally what I would like to do, given limited space etc, is close down the standard 4ft tank, keep the tank water and fish in plastic barrells which I have previously used for this purpose and then set up the new tank. I do have large internal filters that I can use until the canister filters become able to handle the bio load. I can also use the current canister filter as well but this is not large enough to handle this tank without the additional canisters that I bought with the tank.Setting up the new tank and cycling in conjunction with the current tank it is not an option unfortunately.Any ideas appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I wouldn't do anything differently to if it was a freshwater tank. Give it a scrub with some weak acid (vinegar or a bi carb mix) to get the dried up crud like salt and what not off the glass.Keeping the media probably depends on what it is in and what state it is in. No point chucking it out if it is still good. I'd give it a thorough cleaning. Buckets and high pressure hoses. Just chuck anything that doesn't seem right or would be too horrid to clean... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACTcichlidlover Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Can you please advise me what the ratio of water to vinegar / bi carb soda is. I have always avoided using these products as I never thought that anything besides water should be used in the tank.Think I may use the mix this weekend to clean the tank and leave it for a week, re-clean with just water the following weekend and then set the tank up. Does this sound reasonable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I don't really measure things like that. Especially preparing an empty tank.I've used pure vinegar to clean scumlines off tanks that had fish in them before. (While the level was lowered from a water change)Just poured it on to a rag and got in there and scrubbed.I don't think the amount of residue you possibly leave is worth worrying about (but wiping over with clean cloth or just water is a sound idea)If you think about how much vinegar/bi-carb it would take to make a significant impact in a 700 litre tank you really dont need to worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACTcichlidlover Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Ducksta,Thank you for the advice. I gather after the cleaning with the vinegar it will need a good clean out with water?A little problematic since the tank is on a 2ft stand and is 2.5ft high so may just have to siphon the excess water out. The remaining water left after the siphon can be removed once I have assistance when I move the tank into place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I did the same thing for my daughters ex Marine tank and put goldfish in there. It smelt like a fish and chip ship for a little bit but no harm came to them lol. If you are worried just put some carbon in the tank and throw the carbon out after 4 weeks. CheersRosco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACTcichlidlover Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Thanks Rosco would Purigen help as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 if you are going Tangs I wouldn't be too worry by residual salt and calciumfrom the marine set upclean the filters and use new filter mat/wool plus some from your existingfilters media and run them on the tank with the existing filtersreuse the bio media unless they had bio balls in the filter, these will developbacteria but not as much as media designed to be submergedPurigen or Macropore (same but cheaper as not branded Seachem) wouldbe an excellent addition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.